MBC’s new weekend drama A Thousand Kisses has added a couple more actors to its lineup, which is great for those of us who’ve been wanting to see more of rising actress Kim So-eun (Fine Windy Day, Boys Before Flowers).

The drama about a divorced woman’s rebound and success story has already cast Seo Young-hee (Bedevilled), Ji Hyun-woo (Birth of the Rich), and Ryu Jin (Baby-Faced Beauty) in lead roles.

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Read the rest of Kim So-eun joins A Thousand Kisses (315 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Kim So-eun, Ryu Jin

Tomorrow marks the premiere episode of a new Drama Special from KBS, a four-part miniseries about the ins and outs of a high-end salon, called Hair Show. Somehow I kept getting stuck on the title because I just expected it to be like a hair-rock musical or something, but it’s just a drama set in the world of hair-as-fashion, like haute couture hair, for lack of better hair-related vocabulary from yours truly. Drama, drama queens, and crazy ‘dos? Sounds fun.

It stars Lee Seung-hyo (Comrades, Queen Seon-deok, above right) as a world-renowned stylist. He’s got a past with his first-love-turned-boss, in Cha Soo-yeon (Stormy Lovers, below right). Unfinished business with the new boss, and a star stylist ex-boyfriend who’s guaranteed to be a diva? Awesome.

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Read the rest of Drama special Hair Show premieres Sunday (181 words)

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Post tags: Baek Jin-hee, Cha Soo-yeon, Drama Special, Lee Seung-hyo

I have not followed the drama Stormy Lovers, but I admit my interest is piqued by the latest news that the MBC drama is being cancelled, cut short by more than half its run due to low ratings.

Stormy Lovers is a daily drama, which means it airs Monday Through Friday (in the 8 pm hour). In my wholly unscientific recollection of past daily dramas, because of the steady dinnertime audience, it’s not unusual for dailies to pull in 30%+ ratings, and sometimes even 40%+. (Examples: You’re My Destiny, Everybody Cha Cha Cha, Smile Donghae.) So it’s disappointing that Stormy Lovers has been resting in the 5% to 8% range. Even if I recall reading quite a bit of criticism about the bad acting of lead actress Choi Eun-seo (of Personal Taste, in her first leading role).

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Read the rest of MBC cuts another drama short, angers people (318 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Choi Eun-seo, Choi Myung-gil, drama ratings, Hwanhee, Jung Bo-seok, Jung Chan, Lee Jae-yoon

Choi Eun-seo played bratty Hye-mi in Personal Taste earlier this year, which was the highest-profile role of her young career to date. Now she’s getting her first leading role, and will head an MBC daily drama called Stormy Lovers [폭풍의 연인], which also stars Fly To the Sky singer Hwanhee.

This drama tells the story of the love and hardships encountered by a woman who is disabled but possesses a beautiful spirit. Choi Eun-seo plays that character, named Shim Eun-hye, whose physical healing and recovery will be expressed symbolically within the story. You may recall Choi in her first big break, the youth series Sharp #2, or from teeny parts in Dal Ja’s Spring and Coffee Prince.

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Read the rest of Choi Eun-seo in first leading role opposite Hwanhee (436 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Choi Eun-seo, Choi Won-young, Hwanhee, Jung Chan

October 6 saw the production press conference for Executioners [집행자], the new film starring Yoon Kye-sang and Jo Jae-hyun as prison guards on death row.

In the film, Yoon Kye-sang plays the role of a new guard who decides to take the job to earn some extra money, but is confronted with the unexpected emotional weight of killing a man for the first time in his life. As you may know, Yoon got his start in the industry as an idol star of the pop/R&B group G.O.D., and is one example of an idol star who has made a successful leap into acting. He addressed the topic of singers turning to acting at the press conference, saying that because of the baggage that comes with attempting a crossover, they end up working even harder.

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Read the rest of Yoon Kye-sang at Executioners press conference (410 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Jo Jae-hyun, press conferences, Yoon Kye-sang

Based on previous looks at the upcoming horror movie Yoga School [요가학원] , I thought this movie might turn out slightly cheesy and very B-list. But after seeing the preview trailer (watch below), I’m pleasantly surprised to find it looking a lot sleeker, cooler, and more mysterious than I’d expected.

Rather than going for outright scares, Yoga School aims more for creating a chilling ambiance and the cinematography goes for a dark, stylish flair. (I still think the posters are crap, though. And given that the preview actually looks good, the posters hardly do it justice.)

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Read the rest of Preview shows off a stylish Yoga School (199 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Eugene, horror movies, Jo Eun-ji, Kim Hye-na, Lee Young-jin, Park Han-byul

Can I just say: Owwwwwwwwwwww.

That’s the official promo poster for the upcoming film Yoga School [요가학원], and with the horror-meets-yoga theme, I see what they were going for. Perhaps inadvertently, however, the effect strikes me as a lot more comical than scary, with a hint of camp — which is all right with me. (What do you think: does it seem creepy and chilling, or just look like bad Photoshop?)

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Read the rest of Yoga School’s dark and twisty (har) teaser poster (81 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Eugene, horror movies, Park Han-byul

Given that the star-studded omnibus movie Ogamdo [오감도] is touted as a story of “love beyond eros” told five different ways (there are five directors helming five different vignettes), it’s no surprise that its promotional material continues to be provocative. (For instance, the first poster got people talking with the nude woman it featured.)

In fact, the film has received an adults-only rating due to its “frank sexual depictions” and “provocative content.” Some of the narrative threads include a newlywed couple’s upset love, a first encounter for a young couple, a “peculiar relationship” between a famous movie actress and a new actress, a woman who lives with her dead husband’s girlfriend, and so forth.

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Read the rest of Ogamdo unveils more racy posters (42 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Hwang Jung-min, Jang Hyuk, Kim Hyo-jin, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Min-sun, Kim Su-ro, Uhm Jung-hwa

Like I said, summer is the time for horror. First we had the high school-set Suicide Pact; then Lee Seo-jin‘s high school-set drama Soul. Now it’s (the very unhorror-ly titled) Yoga School [요가학원] — although you wouldn’t know it from these photos from the film’s open set day, would you?

The story centers around five beautiful women who harbor different insecurities and seek out a mysterious yoga school that promises undying beauty. The film is directed by Yoon Jae-yeon, who directed the third Memento Mori film Wishing Stairs.

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Read the rest of Horror comes to Yoga School (133 words)

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Post tags: Cha Soo-yeon, Eugene, horror movies, Jo Eun-ji, Kim Hye-na, Park Han-byul

The upcoming omnibus film Ogamdo [오감도] has a provocative new poster out, and the first question — given its star-studded cast — is which of its leading ladies is featured in the nude photo. The answer: none. The production explained that the poster — which conveys the movie’s primary motif of “eros” — used a body model, not one of its high-profile actresses (like Kim Min-sun or Uhm Jung-hwa).

The tagline reads: “See, pass by, feel…” and is followed by the subtitle “A story about more than eros.” Each of the film’s various vignettes falls under the love/eros theme, but will be filmed by a different director, of whom there are five signed on to the project:

Heo Jin-ho (Happiness)
Byun Hyuk (Interview)
Yoo Young-shik (Shim’s Family)
Oh Ki-hwan (The Art of Seduction)
Min Kyu-dong (Antique Bakery)

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Read the rest of Ogamdo features love five ways (149 words)

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Post tags: Bae Jong-ok, Cha Soo-yeon, Hwang Jung-min, Jang Hyuk, Jung Eui-chul, Kim Dong-wook, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Min-sun, Kim Su-ro, Lee Shi-young, Lee Sung-min, Shin Se-kyung, Song Joong-ki, Uhm Jung-hwa